Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Biotech / Medical : Ligand (LGND) Breakout! -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Machaon who wrote (12811)	12/23/1997 2:28:00 PM
From: Andrew H	Respond to of 32384

>>With biotechs at these bargain, basement prices, perhaps we get the "Mother of all Biotech rallies" next year. At least we can hope, right?<< Yeah, at least we can hope. It will sure take a change in sentiment. But biotechs usually rally in January.

To: Machaon who wrote (12811)	12/23/1997 2:39:00 PM
From: David Bogdanoff	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 32384

To all; Why are biotechs falling seems to be the current theme on this thread. I will add my inflation devalued 2 cents worth. The general high market value makes people generally nervous and prone to sell perceived weaker stocks on the slightest bad news, nomatter how unrelated. The Asian crises certainly falls into this category of bad news, even though it is unrelated to business prospects for the biotechs. The biotechs would generally be perceived as weak or speculative because most of them are months or years away before marketing their first product, and their products are not typically well understod (i.e they are not soft drinks). The timing of the Asian crises playes right into the hands of the tax loss sellers at the end of the year. It seems to me that these are enough reasons for the current biotech selloff even though their business prospects have not been adversely effected by the above mentioned circumstances. In fact, as has been mentioned on this thread, the low interest rates favor their prospects, plus recent government FDA regulation changes substantially favor these prospects since they should be able to get products to market faster and with less expense. Just my opinion. David

To: Machaon who wrote (12811)	12/24/1997 8:43:00 AM
From: Henry Niman	Respond to of 32384

Biotechs are weak in Europe also. The large number of failures in advanced clinical trials has affected the sector in the US as well as the UK: Biotechnology: Further gloom for sector TUESDAY DECEMBER 23 1997 By Daniel Green The shares of Biocompatibles and Scotia fell sharply yesterday, underlining the difficulties of the UK biotechnology sector. Scotia shares fell 52«p to 265p in response to the announcement after the market closed on Friday that health regulators had blocked the launch of Tarabetic, a drug to treat diabetes. The shares touched 735p at their 1997 peak in January. Biocompatibles lost another 20p to 457«p as the company issued a statement saying sales would not reach planned targets, and that a partnership with a mainstream pharmaceuticals company was still some way off. Biocompatibles' shares peaked in April at œ14.18. The gloom spread across almost the entire sector, even affecting companies which have enjoyed a relatively good year, such as Cortecs and Chiroscience. There has been a series of failures in clinical trials this year, the most important of which was Celltech's drug to treat septic shock, abandoned in May. The biotechnology sector has a history of volatility. Although some companies, such as Scotia, have sales, stock market valuations are based more on the perceived prospects of drugs in research. Scotia's Tarabetic was aimed at patients suffering from the nerve damage caused by diabetes. The Medicines Control Agency, which oversees the sale of medicines in the UK, first blocked its approval in March. At the time, David Horrobin, Scotia chief executive, said he and some diabetes experts felt the evidence from clinical trials was strong enough to warrant approval. On Friday, the MCA disagreed and confirmed the block. This month Dr Horrobin announced he was leaving the company he founded in 1979. The Horrobin family intends to sell its 17 per cent stake in Scotia over the next few years. Biocompatibles' share price has been weak since the company announced in September that its talks to form a partnership with Johnson & Johnson, the US health care products company, had been largely abandoned. Biocompatibles makes a plastic coating friendly to the human body. The coating is used to cover stents (wire mesh implants to hold open blood vessels), catheters and contact lenses. J&J is one of the world's big stent suppliers. Alistair Taylor, chief executive, said yesterday that Biocompatibles was holding talks with several other companies which might lead to the formation of two partnerships to develop and distribute its stents, one for heart products and one for other products. The contact lens side was having mixed fortunes too, held back by "slower than expected" sales in the US.